The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-06-14
LANTERNS AND LAMPS.
From the Ancient,' Torches to the Burn
of Modern Days


ers of Modern Days.
Lanterns are an ancient institution.
You remember that Diogenes used one in
his eccentric efforts tn discover something
he did not believe in. The lanterns of the
Greeks and Eomans contained an oil lamp.
Its sides were made Of thin layers of horn,
waxeI parchment. linen or bladder. Glass
lanterns were used in England us early "a
10J. They We're expensive, however, and
|. 900 years later the tin lantern was
chiefly in Use among the poor people
The Chinese excel in tine manufacture of
lanterns. They have used them for ages
Some of their mandarins have them built
ut cost of thousands of dollars each.
The word built is net ont of place here,
for these lanterns are twenty To thirty
feet high and contain hundreds of
CANDLE. Their sides are often of rich
coIored silk. On jan. Il of each year
thcy celebrate the feast of the lanterni.'
WHY: Oh. it's a way they have--they
arc hc;ithcns, you know.
No: candles are not the most primitive
fora Of Ii, iIt. In IiOner's time torches
were USED, even in tine palaces Of the
wecI,l.y. Rush lights, early in use, were
rIisii,.' dipped in grease, Pitch or wax.
Lamp comes from a Greek worl-lam-
pas. Ihc candles of Scripture are sup
IoseI io have been lamps in which olive
oil was burned. Tho earliest lamps were
shallow vessels of terra Gotta, either
round ar oblons in shape. There was "A
small operiin:; i'll the top i'll which the oil
WAS poured; at the side was a handA
anal opposite. IL nozzle through which the
wick l'rotr,I,led. This form of lamp il
oftCa represented in pictures. Many of
them Were ornamented with representa-
tons of war scenes and chariot races.
Bronze lamps ami ;,ol,,cn lamps have
been discovered of such beauty as To en-
title them to- rank among the choicest
specimens of ancient arts. In the acrop-
Oils at Athens, according to historian,
was n golden lamp. large enough So that
when filled it would burn night and day
for year. Above it was n bronze palm
tree To carry off its fumes and act as q
reflector. That was the kind of lamp
to have.
Speaking Of primitive lamps. some are
still To bc found in the country districts.
"Whilc in West Nir .inia Gently" sad Il
travelling man, Il saw one that vas
primitive enough. y saucer was filed
with grease. and over the edge of it
hung a lighted wick Ii spluttcrcI some.
lat made enough light To render the
darkness visible, and its heat was suifi-
cicnt to light the pipes of the family.
l. was more used for that purpose than
any other. il appeared to me. though il
wa; the only light i'm the house. There
are many people i'll the mountain regions
whoe;" only lights are tallow dips.
y form of the ancient Greek lamp is
still i'll use among tine Canadian French.
In the remote districts of the land the
crtii,.ie. similar lamp, is sometimes
found. Olive oil, ground nut oil. poppy
oil or other vegetable oils are used in
various districts of the world. I'm the
tropical regions cocoanut oil Is used in
lamps. The trade of candle making, ,IsUI-
ally combined with that of soap boiling.
WAS once an important one. Franklin
worked ut it until he ran away. The
chamber made wicls, nodded AMI dipped
his candles until driven out of business
10y the general adoption of whale oil n
IA iiluminant early in the present cen
tj!ry.
Improved lamps Were introduced about
a century ago. \ Frenchman named
Argan,l, i'll 1884. invented n burner with
two coiiccntric tubes. the inner one open
for a cur, mt to pass through and the
outer one containing the wick. He had
a metal chimney to make it draw and
carry OFF the smoke. Somebody soon
found out that a glass chimney was bet
ter for that purpose. Argand's lamp.
variously modified and improved. is the
parent IF all the best modern lamps.
Various substitutes for whale oil were
tried during tine present century, but
none came into general use until coal oil
WAS introduced. 1t was first made from
| camel coal. and that is the way it got its
Maine. The general development of thu.
| protrolcun region in Pennsylvania, which
| began in 1890, soon DESTROYED the
manufacture of coal oil, just as it was
| getting to lie a profitable i-.tJIstry. Many
| improvements in lamps followed this dis
| covery. But petroleum is not n new
thing neither is natural gas. Oil was
| found in n spring ON Zacyuthus or Zant,
| one of the Ionian islands. 1000 years
ago. and was burned i'll lamps i'm Sicily ut
| an early age. 1t was known To the In
| dians and to the western pioneers of
| America, but sOmcbody~-had To discover
how To get it in quantities and use it he
fore the knowledge became of value to
| the world.-Pittsburg Dispatch.